Bible Strands
Ruth 1:2
The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah, and they entered the land of Moab and settled there.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The unnamed narrator introduces a specific household during the era of the judges, immediately after noting a famine in Judah and before recording the patriarch’s death.
The words — אֱלִמֶ֡לֶךְ ('eli.Me.lekh) renders literally as [was] Elimelech, and נָעֳמִ֜י (no.'o.Mi) renders as [was] Naomi, anchoring the passage in precise personal identification rather than generic migration.
The thread — The family’s Bethlehem Ephrathah origin connects to Genesis 35:19 and prepares the ground for Micah 5:2, which identifies that same town as the birthplace of a future ruler.
Why it lands — The text lists ordinary names and a geographic relocation to establish a documented lineage, requiring the reader to recognize how specific historical families become the structural framework for later covenant fulfillment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth–lehem–judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
Cross-references
- Genesis 35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
- 1 Samuel 17:21 And Israel and the Philistines arrayed in formation against each other.
- Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
- 1 Samuel 1:1 Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.